Microsoft's greed, lack of compromise killed Halo movie

Hey, remember how back in the day, when Halo was this brand new phenomenon and everyone was talking about it being turned into a big-screen blockbuster? Remember how every studio was bidding for their shot at it? Remember how iconic director Peter Jackson was even said to be the guy who would likely be tapped to head up the ambitious project? You ever look back and wonder, "What the heck happened with that?"

Apparently the reason the movie was completely shut down, never to be revived again, was because of one thing: greed. No, not from the major film studios. Remember, they were all chomping at the bit and would likely have been very competitive to get their name on the project. No, according to a new book from author Jamie Russell, Microsoft's greed and utter unwillingness to negotiate the terms with any studio is what set the project down the garbage chute.

A snippet from the book, entitled Generation Xbox: How Video Games Invaded Hollywood, quotes industry insider Larry Shapiro. "What ultimately killed the Halo movie was money. 'Microsoft's unwillingness to reduce their deal killed the deal,' says Shapiro. 'Their unwillingness to reduce their gross in the deal meant it got too top-heavy. That movie could have been "Avatar,"'" the passage reads. Apparently, among Microsoft's demands were an inordinate amount of flights between Microsoft offices in Seattle down to Los Angeles to review footage on a continuous basis, as well as no fewer than 60 first-class tickets for the premiere. Russell blasted Microsoft for not understanding how Hollywood works.

[via Wired]